Smouha president blames referee after loss to Zamalek in Egypt Cup final

Smouha president Farag Amer has criticised the referee’s decisions after his side’s loss to Zamalek on penalties in the Egypt Cup final.

Zamalek clinched the Egypt Cup in a fierce clash with the Alexandrian side, winning 5-4 on penalties after the game ended in a 1-1 draw. Hossam Hassan scored the opener for Smouha after five minutes only and Kabongo Kasongo netted the equaliser in the dying moments of the game.

The Smouha chairman claimed that referee Mohamed Farouk threatened to send goalscorer Hossam Hassan off following his opening goal against Zamalek.

Farouk was chosen to officiate the final after a huge dispute which saw Smouha withdraw from the game after the Egyptian Football Association declined their request to assign the game to foreign referees. The Alexandria-based team, however, have gone back on their withdrawal decision and announced they’ll play the game.

“Hossam Hassan asked to be subbed off during halftime after the referee threatened to send him off but no one believed him until he was actually sent off in the second half,” Amer said in a radio interview.

Smouha went down to 10 men after Hassan was shown the red card in the 56th minute for protesting a refereeing decision.

The prominent businessman also took to Facebook to express his frustration over the refereeing decisions. He said that Zamalek’s late goal should have been ruled out for a foul on Kasongo based on the opinions of different analysts.

“[Zamalek’s] Tarek Hamed should have been sent off…and Hossam Hassan didn’t deserve a red card,” Amer posted on his Facebook account.